Abstract

Heavy vehicle load security is a very important factor for all road users, and the friction forces arising within the cargo layer and between the cargo and the trailer bed are known to offer definite resistance to the dynamic forces and moments induced by the directional maneuvers, which would affect the load security significantly. A simple load-platform friction model is proposed to study the relationship between the friction coefficients and vertical vibration, and validated with the experimental record from the tests conducted at CONCAVE research center. The dynamic friction coefficient is observed to be a function of the acceleration of vertical vibration and horizontal movement. The vertical vibration has significant influence on the magnitude of friction forces between the mating surfaces. The model further incorporates the load-deck interface friction and vertical trailer vibration, by establishing the vehicle model with dynamic friction model. The dynamic response characteristics of the friction coefficients are evaluated in terms of sinusoidal excitation and random road input. The model is utilized to study the longitudinal cargo movement under breaking maneuvers. The results of the analysis revealed the strong influences of vibration amplitude and frequency as well as deceleration rate on the potential cargo movement. The vehicle parameters are also found to influence the dynamic friction coefficients and resulting cargo dynamics.